NYC Itinerary Help
 

Headed to NYC with DH in late April. I've been 4-5 times before, but this is his first trip. On my first trip, I crammed everything I could into a VERY full 6 days. On subsequent trips, we just meandered and enjoyed the city, so I really don't remember the most logical way to do things to avoid backtracking. We will have 3 days and one evening, and the wish list of things to see is below. I know there are no musuems - he's not museum person . . . :P

ARRIVAL DAY: Arrive Newark 4:00 pm; get to the city; check into hotel located near Times Square; wander Times Square and have dinner. Anything else??

DAY 1:
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
9/11 Memorial; WTC; Battery Park
Would love to incorporate the SI Ferry into this day if possible.

DAY 2: Activities must be completed in time to be back at hotel for 5 to freshen up and make pre-show dinner and show.
China Town
Walk Brooklyn Bridge (Maybe this is better on DAY 3? Evening???)
Greenwich Village for pizza?? anything else? recommendations for pizza?
Empire State Building outside only and is this even necessary if we see it from the top of the Rock?
Grand Central Station
Library exterior
7:30 - Musical - not flexible, tickets purchased

DAY 3:
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Walk 5th Avenue

DAY 4: Morning Departure

I need suggestions as to the most time effective manner in which to do these activities. I'm very open to moving things around (or cutting, if necessary) in order to get the most out of the trip. Basically, he enjoys walking, looking at buildings, eating, and exploring various parts of the city, but not really going to "attractions" if that helps.

Thank you in advance for all the help!!

A couple of notes:

Day 1 :I'm not sure how much of Ellis Island is open

And you need advance tickets for the ferries to SoL to avoid long line - try to get today. You can do SI ferry anytime it runs 24/7 365 - every 20 minutes during the day and 30 minutes later and overnihgt

Day 2: You don;t have a lot. Visit the inside of the library - it's not a lending library - but has fascinating exhibits and one of the most goregous reading rooms in the world.

Day 3 is busier - maybe move walking 5th Ave to do Day 2
Outside of Radio city doesn;t look like anything - only the inside is interesting. And St Pat's is being rehabbed on the outside.

For Central Park look for guided walks that might be interesting. And be prepared it's not very green yet.

Fifth Avenue is a broad street but is not what it used to be as far as high end shopping - if you would like to see that. Madison Avenue in 60s and above will give you boutique high end window shopping. Very neighborhoody - not commercial and touristy like 5th.

Definitely get into Central Park. Lots of great people watching. Brooklyn Bridge walk is great. Have dessert at a cafe in Brooklyn Heights when you get to the Brooklyn side. Take in the view at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Don't go to Patsy's or whatever it's calling itself these days.

I'd agree that the inside of Radio City is far more worth seeing than the outside. I'd consider doing a tour of the inside. Same with the NYC public Library -- go in and at least see the reading room ( no tour though). And honestly you could walk by the Empire State Building and never know it. If not going in and up (which is fine not to do in my book), then seeing it from Top of the a Rock is all you need to do.

Thanks to all for your responses! Very helpful since I've not been to NYC since 2009.

nytraveler: Any recommendations for guided walks of Central Park?

kenav: Any cafe suggestions? Love the idea of dessert and coffee in Brooklyn. Last time, I was with my daughter and we had pizza followed by ice cream at the foot of the bridge.

Neo: I've done the top of ESB and found it overrated too. Hoping to be happier with the Top of the Rock.

Definitely planning to see the interior of the library. I've done it before and it's something DH will enjoy. I'm not sure how exterior got behind it. Probably a cut/paste error.

I will look into the Radio City tour. I've not done it before and it sounds interesting.

I still need some help with logistics, please. If the days look good and not over-filled, can anyone suggest the best order to do each day's activities in to avoid back-tracking? Restaurant suggestions are also welcome for the various areas we'll be in, as well as additional things to do if it seems as though I've "under-scheduled." I've been trying to do better in terms of not over scheduling trips in order to enjoy the experience a bit more instead of constantly rushing. Hopefully, I've not gone too far in the other direction!

I just want to add that the interior of St Patrick's is also undergoing restoration and is completely swathed in scaffolding. There's very little to see.

Thanks for the additional info on St. Pat's. A shame he'll miss its splendor.

Go to St John the Divine instead

For Central Park info go to the website of the Central Park Conservancy - it will have a map and a plethora of information on what it happening in the Park on the days you are here.

And Fifth Ave still has a lot of top end shops, esp jewelers - although it is true that the most exclusive clothing designers are on Madison in the 60s.

Thanks for the info on CPark, nytraveler! I've seen you on the boards for years. Would you be able to suggest the best order for doing each day's activities in to avoid back-tracking?

I remember when we went in 2010, someone helped us make sense of what we wanted to see and put them in a logical order. I hope someone can help you with that.

My one thought about
<i>DAY 3:
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Walk 5th Avenue,</i>

That seems pretty simple/quick depending on how long you spend in Central Park.

Although I haven't been to top of the Rock - that might be time-consuming if there are lines.

What you have sort of makes sense.

Day 1 is downtown and part of day 2 - but you can;t do it all in one day so don't know you have any choice.

Day 3 is midtown and some uptown - depending on how far go in the Park it may by more uptown. If it were me I would do the Museums - but your husband said your husband isn't interested. Are you sure he wouldn't like the Nat'l Hist Museum or the Planetarium? Also the NY Historical Society is right next to Nat'l Hist - is small and has fascinating exhibits.

Frankly museums are the first places I head so it's hard to come up with a ton of other places.

Does he he have any special interests? There's usually something in NY for any interest.

He enjoys architecture and wants to see the various neighborhoods of NYC. I love the museums, but this will likely be his first and last trip to NYC, so I want to do the things he likes. He enjoys parks, popping into an old vinyl record store in Greenwich Village, people-watching, eating, etc. I think he would like to go up to Harlem as he loves R&B music (I actually lured him to NYC with Motown The Musical tickets), but I've never been and don't know what there is to do there or if it's even safe or worth seeing.

I guess what I'm really asking is what is the most logical way to meander through the neighborhoods, especially on Day 2.

Any suggestions for the most logical order to get from point A to points B, C, D, etc. would be very helpful.

Thank you!

Would you be up for doing a tour? In 2010, we took a tour through Real New York Tours. realnewyorktours.com There were 5 of us, so we took a private tour called the Big Apple.

http://realnewyorktours.com/tour_detail?tour=big_apple

It was partially by subway and partially by foot. The guide met us at our hotel. We walked through Times Square and Central Park and then worked our way through many neighborhoods (Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown) ending up in the Financial District and the Former World Trade Center site.

By going with a guide, we were able to see so much in one day. And he pointed out things that we would have missed on our own.

The private option was kind of expensive even with 5 people, but they also have group options available. Their Dozen Apples Tour looks like the same tour.

It has parts of what you now have in days 1, 2, and 3. For me, I would do this on my first day and then see what was left over.

If you did not want to do a tour, you could use their tour details as a template for a logical order to see the neighborhoods.

2005: It looks like a perfect way to get an overview of the city. Seven hours of an organized tour is probably more than I want to do, but the shorter one, Downtown Dozen, is very appealing! Unfortunately, we will be there Tues. evening - Sat. morning, and they only offer the DD on Tues, Fri., and Sun. I don't know if we'll do the tour or not since it's not until our last day, but the outline of their route was very helpful! Thank you for that suggestion and the link.

I have used this outfit for tours of Greenwich Village and Harlem altho they have others including Brooklyn when I have out-of-town guests. The tours last 2 hours or so which would not cut into your day too much. One just
tips the guide at the end of the tour. Small groups and easy.

www.freetoursbyfoot.com

I think your Day 2 has too much and Day 3 has too little. Based on the amount of timing and locations, I would rearrange your itinerary this way:

ARRIVAL DAY: Arrive Newark 4:00 pm; get to the city; check into hotel located near Times Square; wander Times Square and have dinner. Anything else??
+ Top of the Rock is close by if you want to try it this night. I'd watch the weather report to see which day would offer the best weather.

DAY 1:
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
9/11 Memorial; WTC; Battery Park
Would love to incorporate the SI Ferry into this day if possible.
+ If you take the feryy to Ellis Isalnd, there is really no need to take the Staten Island Ferry.

DAY 2:
+Based on your other interests, I'd do the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning. Take the subway to Brooklyn, then
Walk Brooklyn Bridge
walk to Chinatown
Greenwich Village
+ Spend some time exploring Greenwich Village or the East Village. See some NYC neighborhoods. You could walk uptown on the east side and visit the Tenement Museum--I think even you husband would like this--an food shops like Katz and the Pickle Guys. You could walk uptown on West Broadway and eventually veer further west to the quaint street of the West Village.
7:30 - Musical - not flexible, tickets purchased

DAY 3:
Grand Central Station
Library at 42nd street - go inside!
Walk north on Fifth Avenue
Rockefeller Plaza/Center (outside only - no tours) and Top of the Rock – go close to dusk so we can see day views and night views
Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)
St Patrick's Cathedral
Central Park and The Plaza Hotel

DAY 4: Morning Departure

In 2010, I planned a few days in NYC with friends. Although I had been there, it wasn't recent and my overall knowledge of the city wasn't very wide. I compiled a list of all the things that we wanted to see (three of the others had never been there) and posted a thread here asking for suggestions.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-must-sees.cfm

Someone very kindly put my list into a logical order with notes about where everything was. When I read ellenem's list above, I was reminded of that list, so had to go back and look. Sure enough, she was the one that did it for us.

ellenem - You are appreciated. I have remembered that kindness for four years and I am sure many others have benefited from that list and from all the other help that you give to people on the boards. Thank you.

I enjoyed that trip so much, that we have returned to NYC three times since then.

traveler2005,

I'll accept your thanks on behalf of all of the NYC Fodorites who spend their free time helping visitors hone their itineraries and conquer their fears of the big city.

ellenem - In my original note, I added my thanks to the other Fodorites too. Then I rearranged it and lost that part.

Having access to so many kind and helpful people has enriched my travel so much!!

I would start tossing out some other names, but I know that I'd miss someone.

Rhea58: I was looking for something EXACTLY like that! We did the "free" walks in Paris. They were amazing and just the right amount of time. I booked the one for Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy for Thursday morning. (Day 2)

2005: Thank you for the link to your previous thread. You are absolutely correct about ellenem's logical listing. It's exactly what I needed.

Ellenem: THANK YOU FOR THIS! It's just what I was hoping to find. I agree with you on the Tenement Museum. I've been on a previous trip and it was wonderful. I think we're going to pass on this trip though and spend some time in the Federal Hall Museum when we're downtown. My husband loves US history, and I think he's enjoy a few of the exhibits there. I've never been, so it's a win/win. I've made a few modifications to the original itinerary. If you don't mind, please take a look at the "new" one and make suggestions for improvement. Thank you. Also, we have scheduled a 2 hour walking tour of Soho, Chinatown, and Little Italy. It was a difficult choice between that and Greenwich Village. Any insight as to which would be more interesting? I chose the first because of the variety of areas, but it's not too late to change.

Revised Itinerary

ARRIVAL DAY, Tues.: Arrive Newark 4:00 pm; get to the city; check into hotel located near Times Square. Head to Rockefeller Center, grab a quick dinner on the way and make the Top for sunset (7:30-ish?). Enjoy the view. While in the area, we'll see Radio City Music Hall (exterior for photo op)and St Patrick's Cathedral (limited with renovations in progress).

Need dinner suggestions. We'll be coming from the 8th Ave. and 51st area.

DAY 1, Wed.:
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
Lunch
Downtown area including: Wall Street, Federal Hall National Memorial, and Trinity Church
3:30 ticket(not purchased, can change time)9/11 Memorial/WTC
Then City Hall Park, Foley Square to see Supreme Ct. Bldg, and 1 Police Plaza
Back to hotel and freshen up for dinner OR maybe walk Brooklyn Bridge and have dinner there? Where? Suggestions, but not Grimaldi's. We have one!


DAY 2, Thurs.:
10-12: Walking Tour of Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy - www.freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/
China Town - Lunch at Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles and wander Chinatown a bit.
Subway to Herald Square – Macy’s and 34th St. shopping
4:00 - Be back at hotel to freshen and change
5:30 - Early Dinner
7:30 - Musical, tickets purchased

If we walk back to the hotel this afternoon, what is the more interesting route to take to get to 51st St.? Ave. of the Americas, 7th or 8th Avenue?

DAY 3, Fri.:
Library and Grand Central Station (See Whispering Gallery!)
Subway to Greenwich Village for exploring and lunch.
Subway to a good starting point for walking 5th Ave. North to Central Park for shopping. (Suggestions for a starting point?)
Bloomingdales, Central Park and Plaza Hotel

DAY 4, Sat.: Morning Departure

My main concern is that the BBridge on Day 1 will be too much in one day. Thoughts on this and if/where to move it? Also, layout on Day 3 has back-tracking, but we want to be in GV for lunch, and I'm not sure there would be enough time to see the library and GCS in the afternoon given the other things on that day. Suggestions on rearranging welcome.

While, it probably makes more sense to do Chinatown and GV on the same day, we want to eat lunch in both places so we need to do them on different days to avoid back-tracking.

Thank you again for your input and help!

When we were there in 2010, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. Suggestion is to walk from the Brooklyn side towards Manhattan so that you are looking towards the city. Also, we walked it about a third of the way (maybe less?)and figured that we had gotten the effect - we didn't need to walk the entire thing. So we backtracked.

Hopefully, it will be warmer by then. If it is cold, or wet, or windy, I don't think it would be fun at all.

Agreed! The weather has to be right. I've walked it with my daughter and know DH would enjoy it as well if the conditions are right.

Notice no one has mentioned waking the Hi line - you might want to consider that.

What do you hope to find in Greenwich Village? it is a large area with different neighborhoods. Knowing what you hope to see there will help us consider how you would travel back to midtown.

I would tend to spend the morning in the Village and then trael to Grand Central and the Library and work your way north.

DAY 3, Fri.:
Subway to Greenwich Village for exploring and lunch.
Subway to Library and Grand Central
Walk Fifth Ave. north to Central Park for shopping.
Bloomingdales, Central Park and Plaza Hotel

nyt - Would love to walk the Hi Line, but I'm not sure that everything we want to do now will fit. I'm reluctant to add an additional activity to the mix.

Ellenem - In the Village, I'm interested in walking a few of the pretty residential streets - 10th from 5th Ave. to Waverly Pl.; seeing the Huxtable home from the Cosby Show on St. Luke's; and discovering unique food shops and music shops - maybe Bleecker around 6th and 7th Aves.? I've done all of this on different occasions, but I need advice (or a map, but many times advice is better) on the most logical way to meander through.

On your suggested Day 3, after lunch will there be adequate time to do the remaining things? I don't expect to do extensive shopping except maybe in Bloomingdales where I may spend as long as an hour or so, but they're open until 10, so that shouldn't be an issue. I have good shopping where I live, and I don't really want to drag DH through the stores! I'll save that for my next trip with DD. =)

Two places in the Village you may like.

Caffe Reggio on McDougal St. This is the oldest coffee house in the Village - it has been there since 1924. The interior still has that old bohemian atmosphere that the Village was known for, I don't think it has changed since I frequented the place in my HS and college days some 50 years ago. See what a real old time coffee house looks like, there are not many left. I always make it a stop when in NY for a cappuccino, pastry and memories. They also now serve light meals.

McSorley's Old Ale House in the East Village "We were here before you were born" and since Abraham Lincoln, US Grant and Teddy Roosevelt went there, I am sure that is true. Another place with loads of atmosphere and a fine picture opportunity on the outside. Sadly, they no longer make there own ale which was wonderful. Now, just average. Try their cheese plate (with raw onions if you like) and a pint. It is the oldest continuously operating place of its kind in the city.

oops! there = their

Your most welcome Darlenef17.

If you do walk the Highline you might want to get off for a bit
& explore http://www.chelseamarket.com which runs a whole
block 15-16 Streets and find a spot there for lunch or just browse the shops.

Basing - Caffe Reggio is right up my alley! I will definitely be stopping in there. Thanks for the tip!!

Rhea - We probably won't do the High Line, but I'd love to work in a walk through of Chelsea Market. It looks wonderful.

Thank you both for the great suggestions.

We walked the High Line last year, I think. It was nice, but not a "must do." Walking Central Park is both more iconic and interesting. It was not too far from our hotel.

If your husband is interested in architecture then a visit to The Highline would interest him. There's a Frank Gehry across from the Chelsea Piers, just one example.

I think I've more or less gotten our plans worked out. Still working on the most logical way to navigate through Greenwich Village and Central Park, but that will work itself out.

I don't know if I should start a new thread for this or not, but I'm going to try to piggy back on the original.

I'd love suggestions on your favorite place to have dessert after the theater. In the theater/TS area, please!

Thank you.

For your Brooklyn Bridge walk, I'd recommend that you take the subway over to Brooklyn and then walk back. (It will save you time, as compared with walking back and forth, and your walk will then be focused on the Manhattan skyline.) On the Brooklyn side, you could explore the area around Brooklyn Bridge Park (maybe grab a bite to eat) before walking back to Manhattan (or just do a quick trip on subway and then start walking back immediately if you're pressed for time).

frogoutofwater: That's the plan! We're going to subway over to Brooklyn, have a late lunch in DUMBO, and walk back. Do you happen to know if that amazing bakery has reopened? I'd love to get dessert there. I heard that it was closed after Sandy. =( I think the name is Almond Bakery or something very close to that.